Sphere’s Mauritania iron-ore mine’s life to stretch over decades
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – A prefeasibility study (PFS) into ASX-listed Sphere Mineral’s 50%-held El Aouj iron-ore project, in Mauritania, has revealed that the project could have a mine life of 200 years at the initial development scale of 9.5-million tonnes a year.
Should production be ramped up to the planned 45-million tonnes a year, El Aouj’s mine life would still exceed 40 years.
Sphere reported on Friday that the PFS had identified a staged development for the project, allowing production to increase rapidly. The project would be staged on modules with a capacity of 9.5-million tonnes a year each.
To reach a production rate of 15-million tonnes a year, which was scheduled for the end of the second year of mining, the El Aouj project would require a capital investment of some $866.1-million. During this time, operating costs were expected to reach $5.48/t.
Sphere noted that the capital and operating costs developed in the PFS were competitive and warranted the advancement of the project into a feasibility study stage, at least for the initial module.
The company pointed out that the resource scale would also allow for multiple project options, as part of the staged development, to match market conditions.
The project, which Sphere jointly owns with the Mauritanian State mining company, was based on the production of a sinter feed product derived from fresh magnetite ore, beneficiated to produce a 66% iron concentrate.
The project currently has an ore reserve of some 760-million tonnes, grading 35% iron.
The joint venture partners would now evaluate proposals to start a feasibility study on the El Aouj project.
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